Schofield - given carte blanche to fit out a top-notch studio - explained that Activision picked him for his own creative vision, which the publisher trusts and wants to nurture.

"They hired us for our track record and vision and they are supporting our plans, ideas and creativity 110 per cent. It's refreshing; the trust that they have given to us, and we don't take it lightly," Schofield told Joystiq.

Schofield's departure from Visceral Games to Activision was announced in November 2009. His - and partner Michael Condrey's - mandate was to build a world-class studio, although for what is unknown - an action game is all the information there is.

"The transition has been fantastic. We haven't looked back once," said Schofield.

"I will admit," he added, "it was a little scary leaving EA. On day one, Sledgehammer Games was just two of us and a laptop at Starbucks. Within days, we had literally 1800 resumes of people from all over the industry, many whom had followed us from past studios, and many who had gone off to other opportunities in the past and were interested in being part of this opportunity. We have a huge recruitment effort underway and are still actively looking for top talent."